Grooks

From the publisher: "What in the world is a Grook? A grook is a short, aphoristic poem, accompanied by an appropriate drawing, revealing in a minimum of words and with a minimum of lines some basic truth about the human condition. Grooks were created originally during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. They began life as a sort of underground language just out of reach of the understanding of the Germans. They have since become one of the most widely read forms of composition in the Scandinavian - and English - languages. Grooks are the product of one of the most ingenious minds of this or any other century. A Danish scientist turned poet, Piet Hein has published longer poems, fiction, drama and essays; he has designed a 'rectangular oval', the Super-Ellipse, used in the new Stockholm city center and other cities; he has invented games, the newest of which, SOMA and the Super-Egg, have just been released by Parker Brothers to the delight of hundreds of thousands. What in the world is a grook? Look inside and see for yourself; but beware: you are about to become a grookaddict, a happy victim of one of the most relaxing pleasures available in this nervous world...." The first Grooks book was originally published in the US by M.I.T. Press in 1966.